Saturday, March 26, 2011

This week unfortunately we went over our budgeted amount for groceries. We over spent this month by $80.45. When we take into account that we did some freezer shopping this month (total of $53.44) if this had been a normal month without putting anything in the freezer for the future we would have overspent by $27.01. I am not happy about it BUT we have had a new diet development over here this week. I have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes which means I have to limit my carb intake. This means that along with looking at the prices of things I also have to look at the carb count. So we spent a little more to get the lower carb item that I can eat without causing any health issues.Grocery BreakdownBreakfast:$17.05Lunch:$25.82Dinner:$4.36Household:$28.60Junk/Snack foods:$14.93Baking:$4.51Dairy:$14.10Fruit:$19.13Total with surcharge: $140.80Total Coupons used: $13.00Total out of pocket: $127.80

Friday, March 25, 2011

As you can tell by the ticker over on the right we are expecting to add a new little one to our family in a few weeks! It is super exciting but has also been challenge since we are expecting our first little boy! We knew we didn't want to break the bank this time since getting ready for twins from scratch a year ago was such a financial drain. So we got creative and tried to get everything we needed for our new little man for the least amount of $$$ possible. At a certain point it became a challenge, and you know how I like challenges!

So here we go!

First up we have every budgets downfall; diapers. There is no way around it you are going to have to diaper your little one. I personally choose to cloth diaper my little ones. It is cheaper in the long run, better for the environment, and better for the babies bottom. This time around we will be using our newborn covers and prefolds in the beginning again, but we also knew we were going to need more diapers for him as he grows since I am also diapering the twins still. So we decided to go ahead and get the bigger diapers while they were on sale. We went with BumGenius 4.0's. They are adjustable for 7-35lbs meaning you buy the diaper ONCE and use it till potty training....really there isn't a better deal out there! Total spent : $196 with shipping.

Next up in our preparation for baby is meal prep. While nursing a baby those first few weeks there really isn't time to do a whole lot of cooking. You are tired and have your hands full with your new little bundle of joy. To counter act the urge to just get fast food or blow the grocery budget on convenience foods I decided to prepare a months worth of dinners and baked goods before hand. I know that sounds daunting in your third trimester but I have a a simple approach. I simply double a recipe that I am already making and then add one to the freezer. Simple. I don't have the exact amounts spent on the freezer meals right now since I am still cooking, but the amount will balance out of our May grocery budget so in reality the total cost is $0.

When sleep deprived and trying to make things easier for yourself digging around in a large chest freezer trying to figure out what you have on hand isn't my idea of fun any more than cooking is! To make my life easier I decided to keep a running log of what meals were in my freezer at any given moment. Since I am the worlds worst for losing any thing written on a piece of paper under the best of circumstances I knew it would be a bad idea when sleep deprived. To solve the this problem I decided to keep a running total of the meals on my white board. Now anyone can simply take a quick look at the board and see what we have available. Another plus is that it is simple to just wipe out a number and add the new amount when you use up a item. Total spent: $0

Next up we have the dreaded nursery. It is the drain of every budget. The crib, dresser, clothes, etc. It adds up FAST! Since we already had older children this was a piece of cake for me. Instead of buying a third crib that would only be needed for a few months till the twins go to a toddler bed we decided to use our co-sleeper for as long as possible. It also seemed silly to me to buy a dresser for a few months so we decided to use a plastic storage container with drawers from the playroom as our makeshift dresser. It works great and will be usable for years. The swing we already had from the twins, and I decided to just use a office chair that was not being used at the present for a place to sit and nurse the baby. It rocks just as well as a rocker, if we decide we need a rocker I can always move the one from the twins room that isn't being used. Now on to the costly items...clothes. There was no way around this one we needed boy clothes. With four older sisters I was up a creek on hand-me-downs. Where to find cheap boy clothes? A consignment store, thrift store, neighbors, etc are all options. I was very lucky when I joined my local mothers of multiples group that they have a 100% free clothing swap every 3 months. I took in all the clothes the twins had outgrown and traded them for a one years supply of boy clothes. This is a even better deal when you take into account that all the little girl clothes I traded I got for free from the swap when I was pregnant with the twins. Total for the nursery: $0

Lastly we have the carseat. When pregnant with the twins my mother was kind enough to buy us two matching girly carseats. They were adorable and I loved them, but pink isn't really a color I wanted for a little boy's carseat. Buying a new carseat wasn't an option either, those suckers are expensive!

Instead of buying a brand new carseat I decided to try and find a boy cover to go on one of the carseats we already had. I was lucky and found a WAHM who sold carseat covers on eBay for a reasonable amount. I was able to get this really cute one for $30.

I just couldn't resist the idea of a carseat cover that couldn't blow off in bad weather when I saw one online. It is a brilliant idea! I though know the limits of my sewing abilities and was not willing to give this one a try. Luckily my good friend is a wiz with the sewing machine and was able to make it for me for $35 with shipping. I am in love with it!

So there you go 100% prepared for baby #5 with only a total outlay of $261!

I am pretty happy with that total since we are having a new gender. Now to just get this little one here safe and sound so we can start enjoying the fruits of our labor!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

This week we are continuing with our freezer cooking and making some progress! So far we have 11 dinners in the freezer for after the baby comes as well as 5 dozen soy muffins for the twins! More about all that prep in a later post, now though I need to get my grocery totals in for this week.Receipt TotalsBreakfast:$6.28Lunch:$3.50Dinner:$36.44Junk food/Snacks:$13.51Baking:$10.93Freezer Meals:$23.26Household:$4.88Total with Surcharge: $102.63Total Coupons used: $0.50Total out of pocket: $102.13My goal for this month was to bring in our grocery budget at $500. So far we have spent $452.65 leaving us with a remaining balance of $47.35 for the rest of the month. Considering there are only 3 days left in the month after this weeks groceries are used up before we get paid again we should be good to go.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

This weeks grocery shopping was done a little different. Since I am due to have my 5th baby in a few weeks it is time to start stocking our freezer with meals to hold us over for the first few weeks. I am really not a fan of fast food but cooking in the first few weeks with a new baby is almost impossible, especially when you have 4 older children to take care of. To solve this problem I try and make as many complete meals as possible before hand and store them in the freezer. As you can imagine when 8mths pregnant I am not all that over the moon about standing in the kitchen to cook for hours at a time either! The easiest way to solve this problem is to just make double batches of what you are already cooking for dinner, adding one new meal to the freezer every night. So with this in mind you will see this weeks breakdown contains a new line item: "Freezer Meals" this will include 2 spaghetti dinners (will cook the pasta the night of), 1 taco dinner (taco meat frozen with shredded cheddar cheese, tomatoes, green onions, and tortillas), 1 pizza (homemade dough, shredded cheese, pizza sauce, pepperoni), 1 Poppy Seed Chicken casserole, 1 Minestrone Soup, and 1 chili dinner. So at the end of this week I should have 6 dinners in the freezer for once the baby comes. My goal is 15-30 meals by the middle of April.Grocery BreakdownBreakfast:$6.16Lunch:$3.18Dinner:$23.37Junk food:$7.88Baking:$8.80Dairy:$9.02Freezer Meals:$30.18Household:$22.97Total with surcharge: $117.64Total Coupons Used: $15.75Total Out of Pocket: 101.89

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

This month I am going to be doing the grocery break down a little different. Honestly I am a bit busy right now and don't really have the time to sit down and type out what we are having for dinner each week, but I do need to keep myself accountable so I will be listing the amount spent. So here we go....The first two weeks of this month were done without WIC so the totals are for 100% of the food we eat as a family of 6.Week OneBreakfast:$3.75